So I've been putting together a casting set up here and there. No rush, just when I could find stuff in stock and at a decent price.

GF got me a furnace, found a mould etc. Today I managed to find the Lyman Lubrisizer with heater on Midway - same price as without heater. Thought that was weird for about what everyone else wanted for one.

Found the RCBS versions too in places but when I think "cast" - I think Lyman so went with that.

Casting (eventually) for 480 Ruger. Just need to get the correct sizers and lead. I have the Lyman book - need to re-read to see what lead to buy to handle the Ruger.

Just wanted to let others know - if they need it, Midway has some stuff in stock.

I started out with a Lyman 45 Lubrisizer. It worked well but I finally made the switch to a Star. What a difference!

My shooting buddy loves yard sales and has found three old sizer / lubers. I usw a Lyman sizer for rifle bullets and a Star for pistols. The Star will save lots of time. I'd suggest getting a heater to speed up the process.

I cast and sized a bunch of bullets for my 9mms on Saturday. No need for the heater right now, it was 110 inside when I opened the shop!

The Lyman sizer will serve you well. Many began with one including me. Most bullets for the 480 Ruger I sized .476".

I got the heater - for the same price as unheated - was no brainer. According to them - they shipped it about 3 hours after I ordered, which really means they printed the shipping label at the DC/FC. We'll see when it arrives.

Lots of reading to do yet but we'll learn along the way. All I want is something I can plink with and take deer or - if I EVER draw the damn tag, black bear with. Can't imagine an bullet from the 480 at decent speed not doing so. I also have a 45Colt I should get a mould for too.

If I were starting over I’d probably order a nice mold from Accurate for each cartridge I intended to load for. Pick one with a nice flat nose in a standard or slightly heavier weight. Slug bores and throats and order size dies accordingly. Find a nice medium pressure and speed load and concentrate more of shooting and getting good than fooling with different bullet designs.

As it stands I got into casting with a bunch of second hand ragtag stuff and have continued down the path of buying and fooling with used molds. I have a bunch I rarely use since I found what works best for me, for some reason I can’t seem to turn them loose.

Sounds like you're well on your way. Lyman & RCBS = darned good lubrisizers. I use them both, plus a Saeco.

I've never had need of a heater over 50+ years of casting bullets. God only knows how many hundreds of thousands of bullets and nary a need for hard lubes that require a heater.

Some of the hard lubes were more for the convenience of the commercial caster, said lubes having non-sticky handling properties.

Agreed.I've not seen the need for lubes that need a heater over the 4 decades I've cast bullets.
I make my own lube and will sometimes add a bit more beeswax in summer months to firm it up but it still flows well.
The only time I heat my sizer is in winter when my shop gets too cold and then it's just a light bulb over the thing an hour or so before I lube.

I got the heater because it was the exact same price as getting it without. Even if I don't use it - may as well get it.

Was a time in the past a guy could find a used lubrisizer with a die in it and top punch for 25 -50 bucks at a gun show. Have 5 Lymans don't bother with changing dies or top punches much now.lube was only 1 to 2 dollars a stick too. Still love the smell of alox lube. I been collecting lead for the last 50 years and use a backstop that is reclaimable. Lead for casting bullets needs to be reclaimed as much as possible...mb

Yeah, to me the smell of 50/50 lube goes hand in hand with the smell of Hoppe's. I use old Javelina 50/50 NRA formula, and thank God I have about 50 sticks of it left as Alox 238 is no longer available. There's a guy out there who's working on his last stash of Alox 238 to make Javelina Schutzen 75/25 (beeswax/Alox) which I buy in bulk to pan lube soft lead low velocity bullets I use in breech seating.

The pinnacle of bullet sizing is not to size at all if you can avoid it. A good quality mold that drops a precisely configured bullet out of the chosen alloy is the way to go. You're not likely to achieve that with a mass production mold, although sometimes you get lucky.

Don't need a heater----just plug n a light bulb next to the sizer----works for me!

Hip

Sounds like a fun project! Keep us posted. I’m new to casting also, picked up the basics along the way.

A heater is not a bad thing to have; a lot of extra force and wear on parts is from not having one when you need one and if using one of the real high pressure, higher speed sizers like a Star, they really limit the "crank time" to keep enough pressure within the system. A Star in the winter with anything less fluid than alox 50/50 isn't going to work well and is prone to breakage without some heat on the lube side. Its about speed, none of which happens if you constantly have to crank on the handle or run it through twice to completely fill the groove.

The RCBS LAM and LAM II (never used the Lyman, but pretty similar) allow a bit more latitude with either sizing down several diameters or sizing long, heavy heat treated bullets beyond .002. A Star won't abide many of those without breaking something or wearing prematurely past .001-.002 heat treated stuff, especially in the winter without some heat. Hard n dry is nary successful or good on the equipment.

An in and out sizer also works best with some heat in the winter; but I would put a regulator of some type on it. Too hot makes a mess...
A chicken lamp on the top side of one of these for a bit to get things flowing works well; a base heater on them, without a regulator, is TOO hot unless using a really hard lube. The really hard ones generally are worthless as a lube anyway, as most production cast bullets look good, aren't messy, but lead badly. The lube should have some tackiness to it.